KEJRIWAL GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO TELL PEOPLE WHY IT HAS SHOWN THE HASTE TO BRING PREMIUM APP BUS SERVICE VIOLATING MOTOR VEHICLE ACT, HIGH COURT DIRECTIVE WITH NO RESTRICTION ON THE NUMBER OF ROUTES TO BE PLIED & RATES TO BE CHARGED - MEENAKSHI LEKHI
New Delhi, 17th June: BJP National Spokesperson MP Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi today at a Press Conference said that by approving the App based Bus Service Delhi Government has violated many mandatory provisions of Law and has deliberately chosen not to consult the Law & Finance Department due to its corrupt practice & malafide intentions. The latest revelation on App based Bus Service shows another incidence of Tughlaqi Darbar of Topi Sarkar.
Smt. Lekhi said that it is shocking that the Lt. Governor has till date given no permission to introduce the Premium App Bus Service but the Kejriwal Government on 20th May brought out a notification saying that the Lt. Governor has approved the App Bus Service. This by itself is a criminal offence.
Smt. Lekhi said that BJP’s Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Shri Vijender Gupta has already filed a complaint in this matter with Delhi Government’s Anti Corruption Branch. It is being alleged that the Kejriwal Government is going all out to favour a Gurugram based App Bus aggregator.
She said that while trying to rush through approvals for this App based Bus Service the Government of Delhi has violated the Motor Vehicle Act 1988. She said that Government of Delhi has tried to rush through invoking emergency provisions under clause (n) of sub-section (3) of Section 66 of Motor Vehicle Act 1988 which allows such Bus service for a short duration under extraordinary circumstances such as strike by normal operators or a national calamity. In the present case the Kejriwal Government has brought it for an indefinite period.
She said even the Hon’ble Delhi High Court had in an order dated 5th September, 2013 directed that before introduction of any new cluster bus service in Delhi the proposal should be placed before the court but Kejriwal Government choose to ignore even the court directives.
Smt. Lekhi said that it appears that the note of the Delhi Government’s proposed Premium App Bus Service has been prepared by some individual corporate aggregator as it has come to our knowledge that during the meeting called by Delhi Government on this issue but for one all other aggregators opposed the scheme citing the Motor Vehicle Act 1988. To top it all the right to determine fare has been relinquished to the shuttle operator.
It has also come out that rather than the then Minister Gopal Rai or Transport Department Officials the note which the AAP Government has presented is more or less same as the one prepared by Shri Ashish Khetan of Delhi Dialogue Commission. It is important to mention here that Minister Gopal Rai has quit from the Transport Department while Shri Ashish Khetan has surprisingly gone on a leave even as his brain child scheme is under scanner.
Smt. Lekhi said that we would wish to know from the Kejriwal Government that why they did not even find it important to take prior approval of their own Finance & Law Departments. This new app based service would have a long term impact on state based Delhi Transport Corporation but the opinion of DTC was not even sought.
She said that time and again we have seen the Chief Minister of Delhi raising acquisitions on app based cab services, their numbers on road and their surge pricing etc. but the same Chief Minister is prepared to allow the App based Bus Service on roads without any restriction on number of buses, number of bus routes or surge pricing. It seems Delhi is in for worst days then the city saw when the Blue Line or Red Lines were feared as killer lines. The uncontrolled Bus service reminds me of Nirbhaya case.
She said that as per norms a draft proposal needed to have been put in public domain for such a scheme but even that was avoided in the present case.
Smt. Lekhi said that as a citizen, as a law maker I really feel concerned that how can a State Government allow such callousness as an incompetent authority issuing a notification in a matter which can pose grave threat to the lives of lakhs of people who may use such transport.
Smt. Lekhi said that today during peak hours hundreds of Chartered Bus Services run by individual bus owners operate in Delhi and with this new App based Bus Service they are likely to go out of business. The Chief Minister Kejriwal needs to tell us how the Government will ensure their livelihood in future.
|
|
Comments:
